Is Corn Syrup Safe for Parrots?

Corn syrup is safe for parrots but not good for them.

Many owners bring their pet bird to vet for obesity claiming that they are on good diet. Upon investigation most of the time vet found that, really, they were on good diet only problem was owners were using corn syrup as a binder for bird treat like bird bread or seed mix bell.

Why Corn syrup is Bad for Parrots?

Let’s check nutritional value of corn syrup-

[all data are collected from USDA]

Nutritional value per 100g equivalent to 5 tablespoons of corn syrup.

Zero amount of protein and fat but almost 78% sugar. Thats a lot of sugar! Sugars are very bad for bird. Sugar is one of the main culprits of fatty liver disease.

Let’s check minerals content-

Moderate amount of calcium and phosphorus. On the other hand, good amount of sodium and potassium. Extra sodium and potassium are not good at all.

How about vitamins-

Oops! Almost zero vitamins! Why would I feed my bird such type of food? Nothing good in it!

Alternative of Corn Syrup

Best alternative of corn syrup is sugar cane molasses. Molasses is a byproduct of sugar production. It does not have any sugar in it but full of nutrients.